http://www.livescience.com/17625-prozac-works-talk-therapy.htmlAccording to this study, Anti-Depressants and Cognitive Therapy work best together, but the "between the lines" fact that the article leaves out is, like the mice, it has the possibility of erasing one's fear of REAL dangers - this means, with Anti-Depressants and Cognitive Therapy, a therapist or psychologist can literally convince you that walking in front of traffic is safe: just as they try to make people think that walking out in public without passing is emotionally safe (it's a real fact that anyone can make fun of you at any time.)
Now, the problem with this, is instead of using these techniques on the people who have schizophrenia and are scared of things that have not been proven by any fact or study to be real (Hell, God, Ghosts, Bigfoot, or other irrational fears), these techniques are used on people who are afraid of real life problems that actually occur every day, like a person making fun of a badly passing Transperson, someone being fired from work for being Trans, or rejected from their family for being Trans.
Professionals try to make us forget these real fears because they don't want us indulging in things that would make some of us pass, like surgery or hormones, which have proven by study to create better responses from the public (if we pass more realistically). These professionals literally learn in their textbooks that Transpeople should NOT undergo Hormone Therapy or Surgery if by any atomic reason they don't align with an 80's version of "Transsexual", and they warp their techniques around preventing most Transpeople from succeeding in their endedvours - even using irrational fears like Religion to scare the patient into not going through with it, even though Religion is one of the few irrational fears to ever exist.
This all means that unless you are scared of things that DO NOT EXIST ON EARTH, you shouldn't undergo Cognitive Therapy or Anti-Depressants. If you have been made fun of a lot previously for not passing, you have to do something physical about it so no one else will make fun of you - forgetting the fear will not prevent it from happening again, and when it does, years of therapy, drugs, and money lost will collapse and put you in the same place, you will re-learn the pain and fear. Now, if you've never been made fun of and everyone think's you're already a beautiful woman but you think you look like a man, that is indeed an irrational fear and can be helped with these techniques, but if you aren't, stick a boot up the therapists butts and transition, surgically or medically. Don't be labeled with a mental disorder, it will never look good on your part.
*Many therapists will label Cognitive Therapy and Anti-Depressants as "letting you focus less on depression" or "building your confidence", but these things are NOT what these techniques are designed to do. Proven by absolutely undeniable studies, these techniques can only allow you to forget the fear and depression of something, and by other studies I've read (not this article), these techniques do not prevent someone from feeling pain and fear when the original rational event occurs again - it completely reverses on itself. Do something real, not fake, and it'll never reverse. As soon as someone discriminates against you, the entire process will collapse on itself, and you'll be right back crying hysterically on the therapist's shoulder, who of coarse, is making money off the entire process. It's an endless cycle, one designed to keep you in the doctors office your entire life.
But if you undergo hormone therapy or FFS, and come to a point where you pass almost or entirely completely, what's the chance that someone would actually discriminate against you when they don't even know you were a man? Like that male bra model who's been in the news lately, NO ONE would have known he was a man if no one told anyone. He 110% looks like a woman. Now, beauty doesn't equal womanhood, you can be 400lbs and 110% look like a woman, and you have to have that change. Unless you like being an odd combination, life probably will not suit you if you pass merely %50 or %25. And if there's absolutely nothing else you can do to improve your transition, indulging yourself in an extremely pride-filled hobby or career will do more than anti-depressants or therapy ever will.
